Vain search for family trio lost on fishing trip

THREE generations of a fishing family were feared lost last night after a major search and rescue operation in the Irish Sea was called off at nightfall.

Michael Greene, 52, his son, 33, and eight-year-old grandson, both also called Michael, disappeared while fishing for prawns off the Co Down coast. It was the final trip for the 10-metre boat, the Tullaghmurry Lass, which was to have been decommissioned.

The alarm was raised at 4am yesterday after the boat had been reported missing. Coastguards, assisted by 27 local boats, mounted a search operation but 24 hours after they left the fishing village of Kilkeel there was no trace of the boat.

Lifeboats from Port St Mary and Peel on the Isle of Man joined in the search while a helicopter from Anglesey and a Wessex from RAF Aldergrove were sent to the area. An RAF Nimrod Maritime Surveillance Aircraft provided assistance.

Two weeks ago one man drowned when another local fishing boat sank in nearby Carlingford Lough.

All three come from the close-knit village of Ballymartin between Annalong and Kilkeel. A neighbour said of the young boy: "He was on the boat at every opportunity and loved the work even though it is cold, hard and wet out there.

"We have become used to deaths at sea over the years and we know how dangerous the work is for little reward these days. But to lose three members of one very popular local family is going to be very hard to bear."

Some local fishermen suspected that the boat had been run down by a larger ship during the night.